Goin' Rogue
by Ultimous
Summary: Set a month after X-men: The Last Stand, Rogue still is cured, but leaves the institute. She meet's another mutant that ends up getting her into another adventure.
1. Chapter 1: Runaway from the Pain

**I do not own any characters except for Murphy. Enjoy this new story.**

Chapter 1: Runaway from the Pain

Marie has been back at the institute for a little over a month now. It was strange to be here at times not that she does not have any powers. The cure seems to be permanent for her, but she had heard reports of the cure wearing off. She hoped this does not happen to her. She was happy now. She could touch people without fear of hurting them.

She has a boyfriend in Bobby, but she does not get to see him very often any more. The X-Men have become the go to guys for the government when there is a problem involving mutants. Marie does not thing this is what Professor Xavier wanted for his school and the X-Men, but it was helping out with how people felt about mutants. With Bobby being one of the X-Men still, he was gone most days out on a mission or in the Danger Room training. She was lucky to see him for an hour a day. As of late it seemed like he was so distant. Half the time she would be talking to him he seemed off in his own world.

She was going to surprise him today though. She still had access to the lower levels that where for X-Men only, so she was going to show up and see how his training was going. When she entered the control room, it was empty. That was unusual due to the safety that was involved with a Danger Room session. She looks out the window and her heart brakes. The Danger Room looks like it is a beach on some tropical island somewhere. There is a big beach towel lied out on the beach with Bobby lying down on his back, his hands resting on Kitty's hips as she rides on top of him. Tears fall from Marie's eyes as her fist slams down on the console The control room becomes visible, letting Bobby see Marie in it. He begins to struggle to get up.

Marie runs out of the control room and goes directly to her room. She was done here now. Bobby was the main reason she was staying. Logan may be upset at her leavening, but at this point she didn't care. She just had to get away. She writes a quick note to Logan which she slips under his door as she heads out the door. She didn't know where she was going to go to, but anywhere would be better then here.

She reaches the end of the drive and looks back to see Bobby come running out the main entrance. She flips him off as he starts to run towards her. She darts out of the gates and starts looking for a ride. And all black street bike stops first. The helmeted head looks at her and flips up the visor. He was a probably the same age as her and cute from what she could see. "Ya need a ride hun?"

Marie smiled as she wipes her eyes, "Ah sure do."

She hopes onto the back without a second thought and tells him to go. He pulls out fast and that are far down the road by the time Bobby reaches the road. Marie never looks back to see what he does. She just holds on as they ride away.

* * *

About ten minutes later the bike pulls over again as they stop for some gas. The driver takes the helmet off and smiles at Marie. "The name is Murphy. What can I call this beautiful woman in front of me?"

Marie blushes slightly, "Ah'm Ma….Rogue. Thanks for the ride there. I can find another from here though."

"Now Rogue I just wouldn't feel right letting ya go like that. There are some rather bad people out there." He puts his hand on the pump and it suddenly registers as ready to pump.

"Ya shouldn' be doin that." Marie frowns slightly. This guy is just another mutant showoff.

He frowns as well, "I'm sorry but what is a mutant to do when ya got no money?"

Murphy already likes this girl. She was hot and hoped on the back of his bike without a second thought. He smiles sweetly at her. "I'll take ya anywhere ya want ta go. I promise I'll only use my powers when I have ta."

He holds out the helmet for her. She looks at it then looks at Murphy. He was defiantly the same age as her with short spiky hair. He had a face that probably drove most girls insane, which Marie did find attractive. He looked to have a thin athletic build to him. It was hard to tell with him wearing jean pants and a leather racing jacket.

She takes the helmet and puts it on. "Are ya happy now, Spikes?" She asks as she puts the helmet on.

"How could I not be happy? The sexiest thing I have seen just agreed to ride with me." He smiles as even with the helmet on, he can see her blush.

"By the way, they call me Technomancer. If it is anything technological I can control it." The bike starts up on its own as they climb on. Marie holds on tight as they take off again. She could not help but to think back at what she see the man that she though loved her doing. She began to cry again as she held on.

"Are you all right back there Rogue?" She hears Murphy's voice and jumps. "Sorry there is an intercom built into the helmet. I can access it without one though. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Ah'm fine." Marie replies.

"Well Ah don't thing ya are." He mimics her voice. "But seriously, if ya need to talk about anything just let me know. Right now, we are all we got out here until I meet back up with Gambit."

Marie takes a deep breath, "It's just….god damn it. Ah though the bastered loved meh but then Ah fine him fuckin' someone else. Doesn' he realize one of the damn reasons Ah got the cure was ta be with him?" Marie finds it is easy to talk to this guy she just meet. It was odd but nice, like when she meet Logan.

"How the hell could someone cheat on a sweet little thing like ya? Especially if ya got cured for him. But why did ya have to get cured?" He asked honestly.

Marie could tell that he was not joking at all. She sighs, "Meh powers prevented me from being able to have skin to skin contact with others. It would weaken the person I touch and give meh their powers temporarily if they have any."

"That would put a damper on things for sure. But whoever that guy is he is a moron. I can tell that you are one hell of a catch. Ya are beautiful and sexy with what already seems like a fuckin' great personality. Powers or not I would want ya. If all he wanted was a physical relationship, he isn't worth the tears hun." Murphy sounded like if he seen Bobby that he would kick his ass.

Marie laughs slightly, "Thanks Murphy. Ya really know how ta make a girl feel better."

Murphy laughs, "No problem hun. Now then ya want to know the best part of my powers?"

Marie bits, "What's that?"

"No red lights ever." Murphy can hear her laugh genuinely at that. It's a laugh that he decides he wants to hear a lot more of.

"So where ya want ta go hun?" he asks her and it is something she didn't think of until now. She had no clue where to go.

She smiles slightly to herself. She like Murphy so why not, "How about where ever ya are goin'."

Murphy smiles, "That I believe is the best thing I have ever heard."


	2. Chapter 2: Place for the Night

**Second chapter for your enjoyment!**

Chapter 2: Place for the Night

Marie and Murphy rode for what seemed like hours while talking the entire time. He had told her about finding out about his powers when he was only ten years old. His parents freaked out when he started to change the TV station without a remote control. His family was a bunch of yuppies, as he put it, and locked him away in his room all the time. After a year of that he had had enough and snuck out on night to strike it out on his own.

He was from Green Tree Pennsylvania. He ventured down into Pittsburg and lived in the streets there for a few days until he snuck onto a Greyhound bus in downtown Pittsburgh. When he got off the bus, he had found himself in New Orleans. There he got into the Thieves Guild. His powers made it easy to disable alarm systems and hack computer. That is where he met this Gambit person at. He told Marie that back then he went by the name Hijack.

Murphy got into some trouble though when a job went south on him, so now he was on the run from it. Marie was a little worried about it but he assured her that he would not let anything happen to her. She believed his words on that. He started to seem a lot like Logan, with less of a temper. She could not help but to feel sad about leaving Logan behind. He was like a father to her now, but he had his hands full with helping Ororo run the institute now.

Murphy went on about how after the bad job his power evolved more. He didn't get into how they evolved, but Marie was not going pry on the subject. She really did enjoy his company. They stopped to take a break for Marie who was not use to riding on the back of a bike. A street bike was not a good choice for a road trip. She was confused when he pulled out of sight to stop though.

"Ok, I'm gona make this easier on ya hun." Murphy smiles as he puts his hand on the bike. "Remember how I told ya my powers evolved."

"Yeah." Marie was confused, but soon understood. The bike started to change shape, morphing into an chopper with a king and queen seat on it. "How did ya just do that?"

"My power lets me take almost any material and change it to my will. It works best with metals, plastics, and wires. Ya think this will be better for ya hun?" He smiles as he climbs bock onto the bike. "I have ta admit, I'll miss ya holding on to me though."

Marie laughs as she gets back onto the back of the bike. It was much more comfortable than before, but she will miss having her arms around him. They head back around the front and take a break for a few to get food and use the rest room.

Murphy looks out across the horizon from the rest stop they are at, it was a beautiful view. "Hey Marie, look at this." He points out the view.

She walks over and looks out at the setting sun on the horizon, "Wow. Ah didn' think Ah would see beauty like this out here."

She turns to see Murphy looking at her. "What?"

He smiles, "Ya are the beauty here."

Marie turns away, blushing. "Why ya got ta keep doin that?"

He steps closer to her and gently grabs her hand. He raises it up an kisses it, "Because it's the truth hun. And I feel like ya should know it."

Marie blushes more. Marie thinks to herself, _damn he is smooth_. She pulls her hand away and changes the subject quickly, "So where are we stayin' for the night?"

"Well there a hotel right over there." He points past her to what looks like a really nice hotel.

"Do ya got money?" Marie asks.

Murphy smiles, "Nope but that does not matter."

He smiles as he hops back onto the bike. Marie hopes onto the back and they ride over behind the hotel. He morphs the bike down into a cell phone and puts it in his pocket.

"That's pretty handy." Marie smiles at him.

"More so then you can know. Come on this way." He grabs her hand and starts to walk around the front.

"Follow my lead." He winks at her as he interlaces his fingers with hers. Marie fought the urge to pull her hand away and found it easy not to pull away. It felt rather natural, like she should be holding his hand. She shakes her head. _Ah need to get my head on straight. _

Marie smiles at him, "Lead the way."

They walked into the lobby and up to the front desk. Once there, Murphy pulls Marie around in front of him and wraps his arms around her. The action caught her off guard, but she keeps playing along bringing her hands up to hold onto his arms. His slim but strong arms, god it feels nice to be like this with someone.

"Hi their mate. I got a reservation for Smith." Murphy spoke with an Irish accent. He was starting to impress her more and more.

"Just one moment sir." The desk clerk checks the computer, "Yes here it is. My I see some ID please."

Murphy unwraps his arms from around Marie, which made her frown, so he could find his ID. He handed it over to the clerk. The clerk looked it over and handed the ID back.

"Thank you sir. Just need your signature here," Murphy signs it, "and here is your key. Would you like help with your bags?"

"Na." Murphy grabs his bag and Marie's, "Come on hun, lets go."

He grabs Marie's hand and heads off to the elevator. Once in he hits for the top floor.

"What room did ya get us?" Marie asks as they ride up.

"The VIP suite. Nothing but the best for you hun." He smiles at her.

Marie shakes her head, "Ya are goin' get us in trouble."

"Na." the doors open and he leads her to their room.

It was a beautiful room with a great view. But it had only one bed. Marie should have know that was coming.

"Ah call tah bed." Marie climes as she head towards it.

"I figure we could just share it." Murphy smiles, "I don't bite, unless you want me to."

Marie laughs, "No biting." Marie decides to try a little flirting here though, "Yet."

Murphy's jaw drops but quickly regains his composure, "Nicely played hun. But if ya don't want to share I can crash on the couch."

Marie stops and thinks for a moment. She likes him more then she should already but just because she lets him in the bed does not mean he is getting some. She smiles sweetly back at him, "Na, Ah can share. Just stay on your side."

Murphy smiles at her, "Yes mam!" he then salutes her. Marie starts laughing again as she heads to the bath room.

"Ah takin' a shower." She smiles at him, "No peekin'."

She closes the bathroom door as she hears his response, "Damn!"

She laughs but trust that he will not try anything. She never got along with Bobby this well. It was amazing how she could have her heart broken and start falling in love with someone else in the same day. She and Murphy had so much more in common. Her parents were not bad, but they were adopted parents. As she took her shower all the things that her and Murphy talked about keep running through her mind. One thing that made her smile is how Murphy wanted to turn back and kick bobby's ass.

She told him that Logan will probably kill him, which made him happy. Marie gets out of the shower and gets dressed. She comes out to see Murphy lying in the bed watching TV. He looks at her and smiles, "Ya feel better not?"

"Yeah Ah do thank ya." She smiles at him. She was in her comfy clothing now which was a spagatti strap top that showed off her mid drift nicely when paired with the loose fitting low riding sweat pants she was wearing. She could not help but to laugh to herself, Murphy could not stop looking at her.

"Take a picture, it will last ya longer." She laughs as he shakes his head. She walks over to the table and grabs some fruit from it.

"Na. A video would be better. It would capture that sexy walk." His reply made her stop mid chew. Why was it that he made her like this? She could feel the heat in her cheeks from blushing.

He stands up and walks over to the table now and reaches around Marie, grabbing some fruit himself. She turned and really liked the view. His racing jacket hide his body all day, but it was lean and athletic. The shirt he had on fit nicely showing some of the muscle underneath without it being skin tight though.

He smiles as he heads to the bath room, "My turn."

His back was to her as his shirt came off before he was even in the door of the bath room. Marie could not stop staring at him until he closed the bath room door. From behind the door she heard him say, "Peek if ya want to."

She laughs as she has to stop herself from taking up that offer. She then sees a meal on the table with a note. She picks up the note and shakes her head.

The note read:

Marie, I was not sure what ya would want so I got ya a burger. Hope I picked right. Murphy

She smiles. He really does think of me already. Marie enjoys the burger as she wonders if he is feeling the same way about her that she is starting to feel about him. Until now she thought that it was just how he was, a smooth talker with any girl he thought was good looking. But now she is starting to believe that it is no show, but how he feels.

Murphy can out of the bath room in a pair of basketball shorts. He walks over and sits down across for Marie. He smiles warmly at her, "Did I do good?"

She swallows what is in her mouth first and returns the smile, "Nope."

He looks at her and starts to try and say something but Marie stops him by putting one finger over his mouth, "It's great. Really it is. Thank ya. Ah guess not all men are slime."

"I'm not at least. But we better get to bed, I want ta get a move on early and it is late already." Murphy smiles as she stands and walks to the bed.

Marie smiles as she looks at the clock. He was right, it was ten pm already. She gets up and walks over to the bed. She slides in under the blankets as Murphy does the same.

"Good night Murphy, and stay on your side."

"I will. I will." Murphy replies which makes her laugh. "Good night sexy."

Marie blushes in the darkness as she starts to fall asleep. The last thing she thinks about is the shirtless man next to her, and how interesting this is turning out to be.


	3. Chapter 3: Night Flight

**Next chapter. I'm finding it easier to write bigger chapters for this story so enjoy.**

Chapter 3: Night flight

Marie wakes up a few hours after falling asleep. She rolls over to where she would be facing Murphy, but he is sitting up in the bed. Sleepily she asks, "Is everything all right? "

She can barely make out his hand in the darkness holding one finger up to silence her. She starts to listen and can hear something at the door to their room. A high pitch wine starts up that Marie thinks she knows what it is.

"Shit get down!" Murphy shouts as rolls over on top of her, protecting her from the blast as it rocks the room. Shrapnel flies in across the main room and in all across the bed. He quickly gets up and grabs his phone which changes into some kind of gun.

"Grab your stuff quick." Murphy looks at Marie and she knows that there is no time for arguing now. He lets loose a few shots out into the main area of the suite then grabs his things.

"Do you trust me?" The question threw Marie off at first until she sees Murphy shoot out the window close by.

"Do you trust me?" He asks again as he holds out his hand. Marie takes his hand and they take off to the window. His gun is gone now and has turned into a backpack. He pulls Marie in tight against his chest and forces her out the window with him.

Marie screams as she not very friendly with falling after what happened to her with the blackbird. She clutches at Murphy as tightly as possible. Wings spread out from the backpack and they glide out away from the hotel. They glide for a long time it seems until they land in a small clearing in the woods.

Murphy looks at Marie after they land, "I'm sorry about that. I let my guard down and the assassin's guild must have found me."

Marie looks at him. She is angry but at the same time she feels sorry for him. He is being hunted. She knows a job when bad for him, but this was a very bad situation that she really should not be in. She sighs heavily.

"We could go back to the institute. They could protect ya until ya got in touch with Gambit." Marie looks at him. She really did not want to go back their already, but is seemed to be a good idea to.

"I'll take you back, but I will not stick around for long. I already put you in enough danger. God sometimes I wish I never got involved in this whole situation. I am truly sorry to put you through this." Murphy looks down at the ground not wanting to look at Marie right now.

Marie walks over and picks up his chin to look into his blue eyes, "Quit kickin' ya self in the ass on this. Ya told me people where after ya and Ah still came along. Besides that, ya did nothing but protect me the whole time." Marie smiles at him letting him know it was ok.

They stood there for a few moments with their faces a few inches apart. Marie could not help but to stare into his eyes. They started to move closer when they heard something move behind Marie. Instantly Murphy had his backpack morphed back into the gun and pointed around Marie as he moved her behind him. Marie heard the familiar sound of Logan's claws extending. She then jumps in front of Murphy as she calls out to him.

"It's ok Logan. Ah'm fine and this guy saved me." She jesters back at Murphy. She hears Logan's claws retract as he speaks up and steps out.

"Good thing ya said something Rogue. I was about to jump him." Marie smiles at Logan and walks over to hug him.

"I'm just glad ya are ok. When Bobby told me you hoped on the back of a bike and took off, I was worried." Logan keeps his eyes on Murphy the entire time he was talking.

"The hell with Bobby!" Marie said flat out which made Logan jump back a step.

"I know you two had a fight, but didn't think it was that bad." Logan looks at Marie now.

"Oh no it was not a fight. Ah found him fuckin' Kitty in the Danger Room. Ah'm through with his ass. Didn't ya read the note Ah left ya?" Marie just stares at Logan.

"I never was back to my room yet, Bobby found me on my way there. I'm going to kill them both." Logan turns and starts to walk away, "Come on we need to get home."

"Not to mention that there are assassins behind us." Murphy says as his gun turns into an ATV.

"What do ya mean by that kid?" Logan asks.

"It's just as I said. I'll explain everything once we get Marie out of harm's way though. I don't want her getting hurt." Murphy says as he helps Marie onto the back of the ATV.

"That is one thing we agree on then kid. Follow me." Logan then takes off at a run through the woods.

As Marie settles in on the back of the ATV, she goes to hold on to Murphy but feels something wet. She puts her hand onto it and then raises it into the moonlight. Her hand is covered in blood. She could not believe how much blood there was as they hit a patch of moonlight to where she could see blood covering most of his back. She could make out some large cuts and where their looked to be objects stuck into his back.

She shouts at Murphy, "Are ya ok?"

He turns his head back towards her and smiles weakly, "I'm fine. I'm getting ya home. I should never have put ya in danger like this."

He looks forward again just as they reach the road. Logan was already on his bike and started off back to the institute. Murphy morphs the ATV into the chopper again and follows. Marie was worried about Murphy at this point. She could tell the blood lose was effecting him some.

She forced him to stop and wait a few while she wrapped his back up as best as she could. Logan had heard her concern and pulled over with then to help. The rest of the trip Marie rode with Logan to be safe. She keep a constant eye on Murphy though, she was very conserved about him.

They got back to the institute as the sun was rising into the sky. They pulled into the garage and Murphy fell over off his bike. Marie runs over to him.

"Murphy. Murphy!" Marie shakes him and his head turns towards her with a weak smile on his face.

"I know ya cared." He lays his head back onto the ground as his he passes out.

Logan comes over and picks him up and heads for the elevation down to the infirmary. Ororo meets them at the elevator.

"You told me you have a visitor coming back Logan. But you didn't tell me he was in bad shape. What did you do to him?" Ororo looks at the injuries on his back as the elevator goes down.

"Logan didn't do it. It happened from him protecting me." Marie looks down. Now that she thinks about it he probably would not be hurt right now. She just hopes he will be fine.

Ororo puts an arm around Marie, hugging her. "It's good to have you back."

Marie smiles at her, "Thanks."

The doors to the elevator open, and there is Bobby. Logan half grows as he snaps at him, "Move ice boy."

Logan walks past and to the infirmary. Ororo let go of Marie to go assist Logan, leaving her alone with Bobby. She stares at him and can feel her anger burning inside of her.

"Rogue, I'm so sorr….." Marie does not even give him a chance to finish as he hand balls into a fist and she punches him in the face. He stumbles backwards and hits the wall which keeps him upright. Blood comes out of his nose and she walks over and jabs a finger into his chest.

"Be glad that is all Ah did ya son of a bitch! Ah don't need to hear anything else from your ass. Just leave me the hell alone and enjoy fucking your damn bitch!" Marie turns then and walks into the infirmary.

Logan walks over and closes the door then smiles at Marie. "Nice punch kid."

She smiles as Ororo slaps his arm. "Don't encourage her like that. And what was that about anyways?"

Marie shakes her head as she looks at Murphy on the table, "Just a new beginning. Is he goin' to be all right?"

Ororo give a quick look at Logan who shrugs, "Some of these cuts are pretty bad but he should be fine. Hank is on his way back as we speak. He'll be able to patch him up. So who is he?"

Marie never stops looking at Murphy as she answers, "Ah just met him today. I hopped onto the back of his bike hoping not to come back here. Ends up he is a mutant that is on the run from some assassins. Someone by the name of Gambit can help him with that."

"Gambit? You sure he said that name kid?" Logan looks at Marie, but she is lost in her own thoughts at this point.

"You know him Logan?" Ororo looks at Logan.

"Ya. He is an old friend. Didn't think that Cajun would still be around though. I'm going to go make a call." He starts to walk out and puts a hand on Marie's shoulder. She jumps slightly then looks at him, "He'll be fine kid."

She smiles at Logan, "Ah hope so. He did technically save me twice last night." She frowns. Then in a low voice the only Logan could hear, "and fixed my heart."

Logan pats her shoulder and signals Ororo to come with him. As they leave, Marie pulls a chair up next to Murphy and sits in it while taking his hand into hers.

Once the door closes, Ororo looks at Logan, "What is going on here Logan?"

He smiles as he walks next to Ororo, he enjoys being around her. "Yesterday she caught Bobby and Kitty fucking in the Danger Room. It broke her heart. But it looks like she is handling it fine."

"If by fine you mean breaking Bobby's nose and falling for some stranger fine. Not to mention running away from her home." Ororo grabs Logan by the wrist and turns him to face her. "Talk to her would you. She looks to you like a father."

"Ro, how do ya know she will even listen to me?" Logan pulls his wrist free but pulls Ororo in close.

"Because she has in the past." She places a hand on Logan's chest. "I don't think I have thanked you for staying to help out here."

"Ya know ya donn't have to. It's the least I can do after everything we have been through. Ro, ya never need to thank me." Logan smiles at her as she smiles back. Ororo gets up onto her tiptoes and gives him a quick kiss.

"I have come to rely on you Logan. Thank you, for everything." She smiles as she goes to pull away, but can't. Logan pulls her in tight and kisses her.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while now Ro." He smiles as he lets her go.

"Now I have even more of a reason to stick around." He lights up a cigar as he walks away. Now it's time to call Gambit.

Marie looks at Murphy lying there on the table. She cannot remember ever feeling this worried about someone before. As she holds his hand, a feeling she had hoped would never come back does. She releases Murphy's hand and stares at her own. Her powers are back.

She knows everything about what had happened to Murphy now, he was in her head. Marie starts to cry. She knows exactly how Murphy feels towards her. He fell in love at first sight and the more time he spent with her the farther he fell. He was planning to leave as soon as he could without saying a word just to protect her.

And until now, she didn't realize that she was falling for him as well. But they would never be able to love each other now. He was going to keep running even though he wants to stay. And she would be afraid to touch him.


	4. Chapter 4: New Beginnings

**Hope you all enjoy the new chapt**er

Chapter 4: New Beginnings

Logan and Ororo walk into the main office that Ororo was using now to run the institute. Logan walks over to the phone and dials a phone number and hits for the speaker phone. It rings a few times and then Logan's old friend picks up.

"Salut." He answers.

"Gambit, its Logan. Do you know a Murphy?" Logan wastes no time with pleasantries.

"Of course mo ami. Gambit knows him quite well. Why is he in trouble?" Gambit asks.

"A lot, how soon can ya get to New York?" Logan looks at Ororo as she nods in agreement with getting him here.

"I'll fly right up now, where should Gambit land?" They could hear him getting up to leave as they spoke.

"I'll send ya a message with that. And Gambit."

"Oui."

"Don't cause any trouble." Logan smiles thinking back to some of their adventures together.

"Gambit never started any." The phone hangs up and Ororo looks at Logan.

"I hope he can answer some questions for us." Logan takes Ororo's hand and smiles.

"He will don't worry Ro." He smiles as he can see the tired look on her face.

"Go get some rest Ro. Its Saturday so there is no classes to teach today. I'll keep an eye on things here." He walks over and pats her shoulder.

She places a hand over his and smiles, "You know what, I'm going to take that offer."

She stands up and walks to the door, "Thanks Logan. Let me know when Hank and Gambit get here."

The door closes behind her as Logan sits and gets the coordinates out to Gambit.

Marie wakes up felling a hand gently stroking her hair. She jumps up out of the chair and back away. She hears Logan's claws come out at the sudden alarm. Murphy has a confused look on his face as he looks at her.

"Ah'm sorry." She looks to both of them as Logan walks over to her.

"Ya all right kid?" He goes to place a hand on her shoulder and she jerks away from him.

Logan looks at her and he instantly know what is wrong. "I'm sorry kid. We can have Hank look into it for you to see what happened."

She shakes her head no. "It won't matter anyways. Ah just have to deal with it and not be able to touch anyone."

She sits back down on the ground and starts to cry. She just didn't want to be around anyone right now but didn't want to leave Murphy. Logan wraps a sheet around her and hugs her tight. "It's ok kid. Ya will get through this."

Murphy still confused looks over, "What happened?"

"Her powers are back." Logan says over his shoulder to him.

"Fascinating. Though it does make sense given her mutation and what the cure was made from." Hank had walked in just then along with Ororo. She slaps Hank lightly to remind him how Marie was feeling right now and he frowns.

"I'm sorry my dear, I know this has to be hard for you. But now I have a young man that needs patched up." He walks over to Murphy and looks at his back after removing the wraps covering it.

"Ororo, this does not look near as bad as you said. It looks like it has healed quite nicely." Hank points down at Murphy's back.

They all walk over to see that his back is healing. The small shallow cuts where gone all together and the large ones where hard to see. Logan leans down and looks closer.

"There is something moving on his back. it smells metallic." He says as he sniffs.

"I can control and transform technology. So I turned my phone …." Murphy was cut off as Hank spoke up.

"Into nano bots to heal your wounds. What an astounding power. And it is all done at will?" He asks.

"Well not always I have to admit. The nano bots happen any time I get hurt." Murphy says as he sits up slowly and looks at Marie.

"I'm sorry I scared ya Marie." He looks at her and she can see the pain in his eyes, he was going to leave. She has to do something to change his mind, but what? She wanted to stay with him. And with that her mind was made up. She was going to go with him and help end his problem. And with her powers being back, she would not be as defenseless.

"Ah'm sorry Ah jumped like that. Ah just didn't want ta hurt ya." She smiles at him. Her bag was still packed and ready to go. She knows how his mind works and when he would try to leave, and she will be waiting for him.

"Well anyways, Gambit is on his way here." Logan states to break the silence that was hanging in the air now.

"You called him? God this cannot get any worse." Murphy shakes his head and looks around, finding his bag where Marie had left it. He walks and grabs his bag and heads over into the bathroom to change. He comes back out with his blue jeans and boots on, but still no shirt.

"Could ya help me out with the shirt, my back is still sore as hell and I can't get it on myself." Marie walks over to him and very carefully helps him get his shirt on. While helping him she whispers in his ear.

"Ah know ya are planning to leave as soon as you can just to protect me. But Ah'm coming with ya and don't try ta stop me." She smiles as she walks in front of him. He sighs and smiles back.

"Are ya sure about this? I don't want ya to be in danger just for me." He looks at her and she can see the concern in his eyes.

"Look, Ah got ya in my mind from my powers coming back. And Ah know how ya feel towards me. And Ah feel the same way." She looks down with her confession.

By this time, the others have left the room, so Murphy pulls off a bold move. He lifts her chin up with his hand and gives her a quick kiss. Marie was shocked. But it seemed like Murphy know how long it would take for her powers to kick in and broke it off before that. She slaps him in the face.

"What are you thinking? Ya know what my powers could do and ya do that." He smiles as she yells at him.

"It's worth the risk. And who knows, maybe it can help ya learn how to control it." He keeps a smile on his face as he buttons up his shirt.

"Well how about next time ya warn me first." Marie cannot help but to smile some. He was not afraid of her powers and was willing to let her come with him. She looks up and he is right in her face.

"Warning." He kisses her again. She feels her powers start to try and kick in but she fights it back with all her willpower. She wants to keep kissing him for as long as possible. He was a very good kisser. But her powers started to win and she pushes him back before any harm can come.

"Look at that, ya got some more control already Marie." He smiles.

"Ya know, Ah really hate ya sometimes ya smartass." Marie smiles back at him.

"I love ya too." Murphy laughs as he gathers his things.

"So, when we leavin'?" Marie asks as they leave the infirmary hand and hand. Marie had grabbed her gloves out of her bag and put them on before they left, just to be safe.

"I don't know about you, but I could use some food." Murphy smiles as he follows her lead. He was really going to hate himself when he leaves without her though. He didn't want to hurt her, but he has to in order to keep her safe. He wants to stay here or even take her with him, but he does not know what he would do if something bad happened to her. He has to break her heart to keep her safe.

It will break his heart too, but he has to do it. They get up to the kitchen and he stops as he pats down his pockets.

"Damn I forgot my phone. I'll be right back hun." He reluctantly lets go of her hand and heads back towards the elevator. Once out of sight he turns and heads to the garage instead. Or at least he thought so. He had no clue where he was at and goes to turn around but walks right into Logan.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there Logan." He smiles at him.

"Ya are a far way off from the kitchen, bub. What ya lookin for?" Logan stares down at him as he takes a swig of his beer.

"Just the rest room that is all." Murphy answers fast.

Logan shakes his head as he points to where Murphy was about to go, "It's right there. Listen, I know that look kid. If ya are tryin' to sneak out, I'm not goin' stop ya. Just don't hurt Marie in the progress."

As if to emphasize his point, the claws on his free hand extend. Murphy looks Logan in the eyes, "Hurting Marie is the last thing I want to do, but it's the only way I can keep her safe. The assassins that are after me are a part of a very bad crowd. If they even think that we are friends, they will come after her. I don't want to see her hurt in any way at all, but breaking her heart is the lesser of two evils."

Logan's claws go back in and he pats him on the shoulder, "She is stronger than you think kid. Get outta here before she realizes what ya are doing. I'll make sure she stays safe for ya. Just make sure ya get back here once ya got that all straightened out."

Murphy nods and turns to walk out when Logan speaks up again, "Give me a call if ya need some help."

Murphy laughs, "If I do need your help, you'll know. And thanks Logan."

Logan nods and points him in the direction of the door. Once outside it does not take him long to find the garage where his bike was still at. He walks in to see Marie leaning on the seat of his bike. She was wearing her x-man uniform, tight black leather with yellow trim. She wore a brown leather jacket overtop of it. He shakes his head as he walks over.

"Marie, you are making this harder than it should be. Just think of me as a rebound one night stand guy and move on." He takes his bag off his shoulder and places it in the saddle bag of his bike.

She stops him as he straightens up and forces him to look at her, "Ah ain't letting ya go without me. Ah know how ya feel about me. Remember I got ya in my head. And guess what, Ah feel the same damn way about ya. So suck it up and get use ta me, cause life is too short and Ah'm not lettin' ya go."

She pulls him in close to her, "Ya ain't no rebound guy, more like the one Ah belong with."

She kisses him and holds the kiss for as long as she can before she releases him, waiting for just when she can feel her powers start to win. She then straddles the bike and sits back, her bag already in the other saddle bag. She looks back at Murphy and smiles.

He walks over to her and takes her hand in his and takes a deep breath, "Marie I can not keep you safe until I end this. I don't want you to get involved. The one that is be hind all of this is someone I hope you never have to see."

He looks down as Marie looks at him. She could see the pure fear before he looked down. She reaches up with her free hand to caress his face and raise it to look her in the eyes, "Ah know all this already, remember ya are in my head. It's fussy, but I know something terrible happened to you. But ya are goin to need help, and Ah'm that help. Ah'm not as defenseless as ya think."

Murphy sighs, "I know nothing I say will change your mind. I'll explain more as we ride."

He hands her a helmet as he hops onto his bike. He looks back at her and smiles. "Thanks Marie."

He starts the bike and they ride off before anyone realizes they are gone.


End file.
